Haven't really used my DX 55-300 much at all since I got my VR 70-200. It's felt soft when shooting at 300mm and ranges at or approaching infinity, which is most of what I would use it for. Recently I've brought it out with me to take tons of random shots while working and figure. It seems where this lens really gives me the goods is in pseudo-macro, at close distances:

D7000 - DX 55-300/4.5-5.6 VR @ 300mm - ISO 100 - f8 - 1/400"

At full resolution you can even make out the texture on the dragonfly's eyes. I was so pleasantly surprised when I discovered that in post-processing.

@Springs, beautiful shot, but remember the strike range of lightning if you're going to do something like this. The cloud does not have to be directly overhead to draw a streamer off of the ground. Granted, it's more likely to strike closer, but it's something to keep in mind when sitting on the hood of the car. (Side note: I love doing this as well, but it's worth the PSA).

This is a pan while the shutter was open, but it produced (what I think is) a nice effect. The only PP was a brightness and contrast adjustment in LR3. D90 with an 18-105 @ 25mm f/4.0 and 1/10th, in a cave.

kaos said:
@Springs, beautiful shot, but remember the strike range of lightning if you're going to do something like this. The cloud does not have to be directly overhead to draw a streamer off of the ground. Granted, it's more likely to strike closer, but it's something to keep in mind when sitting on the hood of the car. (Side note: I love doing this as well, but it's worth the PSA).

Worthy PSA. I've heard that lightning can strike from 20 miles away. That's 105,600 feet. Considering the average airliner flies at 30-35,000 feet, look how far away they are from the ground. Excellent photo though, SpringsApproach.

Rx4Photo said:
Worthy PSA. I've heard that lightning can strike from 20 miles away. That's 105,600 feet. Considering the average airliner flies at 30-35,000 feet, look how far away they are from the ground. Excellent photo though, SpringsApproach.

Of course guys, it <i>was</i> a little reckless to sit on the car, but (aside from the building behind me with a few grounded antennae) at the moment I was avoiding fire ants everywhere around it...so it didn't seem like a horrible idea at the time :) But thanks nonetheless!